Interview: Shlomo Sand

Diaspora Jews are descended from converts and have no historical connection with Israel. That’s just one of the claims made by a Tel Aviv University professor who’s shaken the Jewish world.

For a man at the centre of a controversy, Professor Shlomo Sand looks remarkably calm. The German-born Israeli historian has faced ferocious and repeated attacks from the academic community in Israel and beyond over his new book, The Invention of the Jewish People. His scholarship, his conclusions and his political stance have all been criticised. In fact the title itself has angered Jews around the world.

The storm certainly helped sales, propelling the book to best-seller status in Israel. It has been translated into more than a dozen languages. more